Last NYC Post

It's 1am in New York City. It's a beautiful night at 39 degrees. I have finally finished packing and dispersing all the lovely unwanted items to my fun Webster gal pals. It's been a stressful packing time. I've accumulated much more than anticipated so figuring out how to get it all home has been difficult. My parents have graciously paid for boxes to be shipped home and I bought one more luggage that two children could fit in. It's not even half way full because of weight regulations, but it's still ginormous. My room is empty and walls are again bare. I can't believe it has been six months since they were last like this. Seems like just last week.

I am sad to leave the city. It has been a amazing time and I am grateful for everything I have experienced. I will miss the friends I have made here, and that favorite spot in Central Park, walking along the Hudson, and Burgers and Cupcakes where I often ate. However, I am ready to come home. I miss my family and my friends and all those comforts of being home. It's been a whirlwind of emotions these last few days.

Thank you all for reading my blog (when I would remember to post) and for keeping me in you thoughts and prayers. I truly appreciate it. I don't know what's to come next for me, but I'm excited to see happens next. I know it's going to be great.

With one final farewell from New York City,

Goodnight and God bless.

Colors of New York

Last Sunday we had one of the most beautiful fall days. The sun was out and it was a brisk 54 degrees outside. A friend of mine lent me her bike-in-a-bag for the weekend. Yes, you read it right. Bike-in-a-bag. You see, we are not allowed to keep bikes in our rooms because of their size. They are a fired hazard I guess. Well, Margaret decided she would get one of those fold-up bikes and then she could keep it in her room. Cleaver, yes? She's also the one who lived here 30 years ago and used to go rollerskating on the roof. Do we see a pattern here?

Anyways, I was grateful to take the bike out for a spin. I went up the Hudson bike path, across the Upper East Side over into Central Park, all around inside and the water, and then back again home the same way. Three hours and some 10 odd miles later, I was sore. I did, however, get some nice pictures of beautiful New York color. (The slideshow is a little odd and will only show you one new photo at a time before it goes through the entire thing again. Sorry. There are a little over 20 photos, so stay with it)

The Benefit is Over!

Two days ago was Aperture's 2008 Benefit and Auction. This is the big event I have been helping plan since I arrived at my internship. It also was the major task of my entire internship and now everything we do is on a much smaller scale. Well it was a long day starting early in the morning with packing up supplies and getting them over to the benefit location, Pier 60. I was positioned at Aperture all day answering phone calls and emails. There was a slight communication issue and we realized that we had no wall labels for the art work for the silent auction. I took this task and proceeded to follow a template to create 60 wall labels. This sounds easy, but it really took me quite a long time make sure everything was spelled correctly and all the sizes and prices were correct. In the end, we only used 9 of the labels for the live auction pieces. Come 3:45pm, I was the only one left in the development department and everyone had headed over the event sight. I was very excited that everyone had enough confidence in me to have me take the phone calls and emails. However, I had no idea how many there would be. I was watching over all three development phones and emails and there were a lot of last minute changes that needed to be made. In the end, I think I did all right.

Once I arrived at Pier 60, I met with the event coordinator and we worked with the seating list to accommodate the changes. This became a frequent thing as many people showed who weren't on the list and people brought guest they shouldn't have and other wanted to make changes to their tables and on and on and on. I had no idea working the registration table would be so much work. It was two hours of standing, running around, finding people, making changes with my director, talking to dinner staff and having them make more seating placements, making more changes with the event staff, and more. I learned quite a lot. After everyone was ushered into the dinning area, then the take down work began. We needed to get all the artwork down, and all the bid sheets over to the winners tables, and getting all the supplies out of the way to pack all the art. There was also the tasks make sure the staff wasn't getting drunk in front of the guests, and reminding spotters when and where they needed to be for the live auction portion of the evening. Quite a busy evening. Everything from here was pretty much smooth sailing. I had to kick out a few reporters who were hanging around longer than they should have, talk to a few people about the auction items they bid on, gently remind the staff they should be working and not standing around chatting, and grab a little something to eat in the process.

Overall, it was a really fun evening. I feel as if I learned a lot, especially about seating arrangements, and did a really good job doing my job. I received a lot of personal praise for the work I was doing and being on top of things. Of course, I also got to told to slow down and remember to breath a lot too. I remembered to say hi to many of the board members and co-chairs of the evening and to people I will be working with shortly for upcoming events next month. And on a personal note, for those who remember the fabulous two inch heels I bought for the event, I kept them on all evening (except for a few mins here and there) and I don't even have blisters the morning after. Quite an accomplishment if I do say so myself.
We finally got out of there at about midnight and three of us when to go meet two of my friends as a nearby pub. When we walked in we were very surprised to find that about ten of our other staff members had also decide to head to the pub. It was a little odd so we sat on our own. We had a nice relaxing hour just to sit and chat about the night. So to sum it up, it was a long day/night of hard work, fun, and fantastic fashion. Thanks for all the prayers and warm wishes for the night.

Obviously I had no time to take photos, but I will post some when I get some from work.

Sweaters, Scarves & Hats Oh My!

For those of you who are still in the 90 degree weather, you maybe be unaware that fall is indeed here. It came suddenly to us here in New York. We had a cool week in the 60s then it sprung back up to 70s and humidity and then suddenly overnight, fall came. We have been in a constant 50s weather. I'm wearing scarves and sweaters and thick socks. What a difference from an Arizona fall. I am absolutely loving it!

Hoboken:

Hoboken, NJ is one of the best kept secrets to the tourist of New York. But for those of us who live here day in and day out, it is one of our favorite weekend retreats. The minute you step out of the train you shoulders relax and you breath deeper. You walk down the streets and hear the strange noises of birds chirping and can walk in a straight line again; no more dodging and weaving. The New York skyline is amazing and there is a proper, clean, very large Target with a Starbucks inside; a wonderful reminder of what home is like.
There are wonderful little restaurants, which is very similar to Manhattan. On this particular visit we ate at Gharrito's. Got that last table in the place. Delicious!
The train station is old fashion reminds you of something straight out of a Harry Potter movie. It's a great place to visit.
Nicole, Allison, Emma, & Me

Visit Home and Other Things

For those who didn't know. I took a long weekend and made the 5 hour flight home.
It was great to visit my family and home. It was especially fun showing up at random places and surprising people who didn't know I was home. I didn't really tell people I was coming so I could have some freedom to relax. I really need to relax because now I am in the last 9 days before my big benefit at work and everyone is on GO GO GO mode. But it's exciting. I'm having a great time.

I have also been given a event of my own that will take place next month. It's bigger than the last one I was given. This time, nothing has been done for the event and I have to start everything. I'm excited for the challenge. I have to send the invites out by Friday though. So it's a bit of a crunch with everything going on for the benefit next week.

The weather had turned cooler here. Last week it was in the 60's but this week we are having a bit of an "Indian summer". It's just beautiful! Makes me wish I didn't have to be in an office all day long. This weekend, I finally walked across the Brooklyn Bridge (Brooklyn to Manhattan, the best way to walk). Emma and I went and then ate some soft serve ice cream at then end. It was great!



Erin and I went out to Rockaway Beach on Sunday. It's in Queens. And let me tell you, this was a PERFECT beach day; just a slight chill in the breeze, a practically empty beach, soft sand, and a kite. Yes, we flew a kite on the beach. It was just wonderful and it was great to finally get to hang with Erin. We've only seen each other about three times since we both moved here, so it was great to spend the afternoon together.


A few of the girls in my building have had visitors for the past week. So we've all been doing lots and lots of things. Last night, we went and had dinner at the first pizzeria in the entire continental United States- Lombardi's. It was soooo good. It's located right on the edge of Little Italy. Afterward we went for a drink in Soho. It was lots of fun.
The Whole Lot Of Us EMMA Morgan & (visiting boyfriend) Mat Sophie

On Thursday, two of the ladies from my group are flying home; Sophie and Morgan. They both live in England. We are all sad to see them go. Our friend Ruth from Scotland left last week. She is spending two weeks in San Fransisco and then going back to Uni in Paris. So she actually won't be home till Christmas time, but we miss her here.

Well, it's time for me to go to bed.

Cheers!

Some happenings

Ugly Betty
I saw the filming of Ugly Betty a few weeks back. The crew took over for or five blocks around where I work. It was fun. And, as an added bonus, Lindsay Lohon happened to making a guest appearance. And just as she was walking from her trailer I happened to be walking by her trailer. I didn't even know who it was, I just saw constant flash of bulbs from cameras. It was pretty funny to have her just walk by me. Here is a video clip from the filming and a pic of Lindsay.



Governors Island
Last week we had the most beautiful Sunday. Unlike today when you feel like you walk into a sauna once out your front door. Naparna, a friend from India, and I took the ferry to Governors Island. The island is located at the n tip of Manhattan. On this particular Sunday, they had free bike riding, kite flying, and mini golf. Naparna had never flown a kite before and hasn't ridden a bike since a young age. We arrived early, on the second ferry of the day. Went right away to get our bikes before the queue got really long and were off! We road around for awhile, found the kites, road some more, returned the bikes, tried to fly the kite with just breeze (didn't work so well), and then headed home. It was such a nice time.

Labour Day Weekend

Saturday:
Last weekend Aspen and Doug Blanchard came to New York City to see the sights and take in a Yankees game. I had a chance to meet up with them for a few short hours. We went Macy's, walked up 5th Ave. and went to Tiffany's, the NBA store, the Apple Store, and the Disney Store. Sadly it was the first muggy day we have had in weeks, but it wasn't so bad. It was only for a few hours but it was very nice to friends from home.


Afterward, I went to meet Mariam and Sabine at an apartment Mariam is cat sitting at. She started a week and a half ago. And rather than describe to you this AMAZING place, I shall just have to show you....or at least the view from the panoramic windows...


The two cats are named Charlie and Fritz. They are hypoallergenic Parisian cats flown in from out of state so they can spend all day playing and sleep on pillows on the ninth floor of a West Park Avenue apartment. Oh what a life some lead.






Sunday:
Sabine and I decided to go to Brooklyn. We followed a walking tour around and it was beautiful. I fell in love with the city all over again. There are brown stone walk ups (redbrick houses) and it’s quite without the traffic of the city and there are cute one of a kind stores and restaurants. You can see the skyline from West side and it is beautiful. There is an art piece up around the East side River. They are three freestanding waterfalls and soon will be taken down forever.

We stopped by a lovely little coffeehouse and had a corn muffin and Italian soda. Then we stopped by Prospect Park before heading home.

Monday:
It was a day of shopping in the financial district. And only bought a book. I went into Strand Books and spent at least an hour going through all the used books and being in complete awe at how many books there are on Feng Shui. It was great. I bought a book about Ronald Reagan. I met Sabine in Little Italy for dinner and we shared two dishes. It was delicious.